The field of the invention is athletic devices and the invention relates more particularly to devices used for practicing the hitting of a ball.
It has long been realized that in order to practice sports which involve hitting a ball, it is necessary either to have someone retrieve the hit ball or to use a very large number of balls. Furthermore, for sports such as baseball where a ball is thrown, a pitcher is generally needed for batting practice. Many times a pitching machine may be substituted for a live pitcher. In any event, to practice hitting, a relatively large investment in time and equipment and often personnel is generally needed.
There have been several attempts to utilize a tethered ball for such practice. Such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,366,383; 3,006,647; 3,301,556; 3,367,655; 3,397,885; 3,442,510; 3,602,504 and 3,893,669. A major shortcoming of all these devices is their inability to provide effective training in that they lack any means for positioning the player with respect to the ball. It is also important that the device be useable both by right and left-handed batters and that the relative distance between the ball and the plate be adjustable.